Nest for a caddy

ABSTRACT

A nest to be used in a caddy box for the packaging of articles wherein the nest is thermoformed so that it will provide a close fit with the caddy and be capable of frictionally coupling with the caddy. The nest includes a rectangular article panel having cavity formations to mate with articles and downwardly extending side walls interconnected at the corners with bellows for normally urging the side walls outwardly. The nest is made by a one-shot forming and trimming operation in connection with a unique mold capable of providing the bellows at the corners of the nest.

United States Patent Reinhart Aug. 12, 1975 [5 NEST FOR A CADDY 3,116,866 l/l964 Boran 229/14 0 [75] Inventor: Douglas M. Reinhart, Lititz, Pa. 7

Primary Examiner-William I. Pr1ce [73] Ass1gnee: Schick Incorporated, Lancaster, Pa. Assistant g Moy [22] Filed: Aug. 6, 1973 1211 Appl. No.: 386,013 [57] ABSTRACT A nest to be used in a caddy box for the packaging of articles wherein the nest is thermoformed so that it 8 206/4519 z i ggg will provide a close fit with the caddy and be capable Fie'ld 2 45 2 of frictionally coupling with the caddy. The nest includes a rectangular article panel having cavity formations to mate with articles and downwardly extending [56] References Cited side walls interconnected at the corners with bellows for normally urging the side walls outwardly. The nest UNITED STATES PATENTS is made by a one-shot forming and trimming operation 1,531.502 3/1925 Raizen 206/4519 in connection with a unique mold capable of providing sddis a] the bellows at the corners of the nest.

oung 2,888,137 5/ 1959 Mizrahi et al 206/75 2 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures PATENTED 3,899,072

SHEET F/G.6 FIG. 7 22 27 PATENTEB AUG 1 2 i975 SHEE' FIG/3 W. W F

NEST FOR A CADDY This invention relates in general to a thermoformed nest for a caddy box to package articles, and more particularly to a nest that assembles with a caddy to provide a quality appearing package wherein the nest effects a cosmetic fit with the caddy, and still more particularly to a method of making the nest and a unique mold capable of properly forming the nest.

The packaging of articles, such as electric shavers and the like, usually is accomplished with a caddy box having a thermoformed nest assembled therewith. The nest is provided with cavities to matingly receive one or more articles and telescopically fits within the caddy box. Heretofore, it has been difficult to obtain a close fit between the nest and the caddy box when making the nest from a thermoformed material inasmuch as a nib is formed along the bottom edges of the nest side walls after it has been trimmed and which when associated with the caddy box tends to maintain the side walls of the nest in spaced relation from the walls of the caddy box, thereby presenting openings at the upper exposed juncture between the caddy box side walls and the nest side walls that tend to detract from the good appearance of the packaging. In order to remove that undesirable nib, it has been heretofore necessary to subject the nest to a plurality of steps that substantially increase the cost of the nest.

The present invention is intended to overcome the difficulties heretofore known and to provide a nest that will effect a cosmetic fit with a caddy box and will also eliminate the necessity of gluing the nest to the caddy box during assembly. The nest of the invention, when assembled with a caddy box for packaging of a product, gives the best possible appearance to the packaging, thereby enhancing the saleability of the product. The nest is made by thermoforming from a plastic material that is initially in sheet form. A sheet of material is placed between an overhead knife assembly and a mold wherein the knife assembly is advanced toward the mold to engage the sheet of material and force it down over the sides of the mold during or after which a suitable forming operation takes place. The mold is heated to a suitable temperature and forming can be of any suitable method, such as by pressure, vacuum or die forming. At the conclusion of the forming operations, the knife assembly is advanced to effect the trimming wherein the entire nest is completed and ready for assembly with a caddy. The mold is formed with an upper face having the desired cavity forming means and side faces at a suitable draft in order to define the side walls of the nest as extending slightly outwardly. Notches are formed at the corners of the mold in order to define the corner bellows of the nest. A slot is provided at the center of the notch to assist in stretching the corner bellows paper-thin when forming same.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved nest to be used with a caddy box in the packaging of articles wherein the nest is thermoformed to provide a cosmetic fit with the caddy box and thereby define a caddy and nest assembly having the best possible overall appearance.

Another object of this invention is in the provision of a nest for a caddy box which includes comer bellows that assist in the action of the side walls of the nest to provide better retention in a caddy box to normally eliminate gluing of the nest to the caddy box.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method of making a thermoformed nest for a caddy box which reduces the cost of making the nest by enabling a one-shot forming and trimming operation.

Another object of this invention is in the provision of a mold for making a nest for a caddy box wherein the mold is uniquely formed to form a nest having corner bellows.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a caddy box and a nest assembly in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the nest exploded from the caddy box;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the nest in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the nest;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the nest;

FIG. 7 is a greatly enlarged detailed sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of one corner of the mold utilized to make the nest of FIG. 1 showing the mold in upright position;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of a corner of the mold looking from the bottom and opposite from that of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along line l0-l0 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 1 1 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 11l1 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating the method of making the nest according to the invention and also showing the relation between the knife assembly and the mold as they coact to provide the oneshot forming and trimming operation;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a nest formed according to the present invention and illustrating a nest formation including depressions or cavities for receiving an article to be packaged;

FIG. 14 is a combination sectional and side elevational view taken substantially along line 14-14 of FIG. 13; and

FIG. 15 is a vertical sectional view of the nest of FIG. 13 taken substantially along line l5-l5.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 to 7, a form of nest according to the invention, generally designated by the numeral 20, is illustrated and which generally includes a rectangular panel 21, front and back side walls 22, opposed end walls 23 and comer bellows 24 at each comer of the nest. The front and back side walls, as well as the opposed end walls, may be considered side walls and the comer bellows may be considered as collapsible means. The nest embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 is intended to merely illustrate the invention as the upper rectangular panel 21 is shown as being planar where in actual practice it will include depression or cavity means as shown by the embodiment in FIGS. 13 to 15.

The side and end walls 22 and 23 are steeply inclined and preferably have an inclination from the vertical of about 10 per inch of height. The comer bellows 24 may be of any desired height relative to that of the side and end walls and preferably slightly less than that of the height of the walls as shown in FIG. 6. Each bellows includes a pair of vertically extending panels 25 arranged at right angles to each other. The panels are joined together at 26 to define a fold line and also joined to an adjacent side wall 22 and end wall 23 at fold lines 27 and 28, FIG. 7. As will be more clearly understood hereafter, the corner bellows is formed such that the panels thereof are of a thickness substantially less than the side and end walls for ease of handling and folding during the installation of a nest in a caddy box. Moreover, the panels 25 are preferably paper-thin in order to enhance the capability of being removed from the mold after the nest has been formed.

Prior to the insertion of the nest in a caddy box, such as the caddy box generally designated by the numeral 34, the side walls of the nest extend downwardly from the panel 21 and slightly outwardly and are normally in that position by means of the corner bellows 24 which take the form as shown in FIG. 7. Insertion of the nest in the caddy box requires swinging in of the side walls, thereby causing folding or collapsing at the corner bellows wherein the side walls must take a substantially vertical position in order to fit within the side walls of the caddy box. Thereafter, the side walls of the nest are continually urged outward or to return to their normal position which creates a frictional engagement with the caddy box to maintain the nest locked in the caddy box. The frictional engagement is such that it thereafter usually becomes unnecessary to apply any adhesive for maintaining the nest in assembled relation with the caddy box.

The caddy box 34 includes a bottom wall 35, front and back walls 36 and end walls 37. The front and back walls and the end walls extend vertically upwardly from the periphery of the bottom wall 35. A cover 38 may also be provided for closing the caddy box once the nest and product has been inserted in place. As seen in FIG. 5, the relationship between the side wall of the nest and the side wall of the caddy box is shown wherein the side wall 23 of the nest attains a nearvertical position in accordance with the vertical position of the side wall 37 of the caddy box. Accordingly, the junction of the upper edge of the caddy side wall and the nest is tight wherein the nest effectively has a cosmetic fit with the box to thereby provide a better overall appearance of the package. When the nest is inserted, the corner bellows will collapse with the panels moving toward each other to allow the side walls of the nest to swing inwardly to the essentially vertical position.

The nest is thermoformed and therefore of a suitable thermoforming material and particularly of a suitable plastic such as polystyrene, polyvinyl, polyethylene, polyacetate, polycarbonate or polyvinyl chloride. The nest is formed from a flat calendered sheet of about 0.030 inch thickness, although it can be appreciated that any thickness capable of thermoforming may be employed.

The plastic sheet may be thermoformed by a pressure-forming operation, a vacuum-forming operation, or a die-forming operation, and following formation a knife assembly is employed for trimming.

Referring now to FIGS. 8 to 11, the details of the mold for forming the comer bellows is illustrated. The mold is generally designated by the numeral 41 and includes an upper face 42 of generally rectangular shape and opposed side faces 43 and 44. Side faces 43 would define the front and back side walls of the nest while the side faces 44 would define the opposed end walls of the nest. The mold would be constructed of any suitable good heat-conducting material, such as aluminum. During the thermoforming operation, the mold would be heated to a temperature of approximately 300 F. and thereafter cooled to about 130 F. for setting of the plastic. Preferably, the mold would be water-cooled, although it could be cooled by any other suitable method.

The upper face 42 of the mold wouldhave a suitable cavity formation in order to define the cavity formations desired in the nest. The corners of the mold would be specially formed in order to effect formation of the corner bellows of the nest. The draft angle of the mold would be approximately 10 per side of the mold for every inch of height of the side faces. This would allow a right angle cut or notch to be made on a vertical plane in the corners for defining the bellows forming area. The depth of the right-angle cut would determine the height of the bellows desired and the illustrated example in FIGS. 8 to 11 shows that the bellows height is to be slightly less than the overall height of the mold and therefore the nest. The right-angle cut or notch thereby forms vertical faces 45 and 46 which are oriented at 90 to each other. At the intersection of the faces, a slot 48 is provided to control the thickness of the material to be thermoformed and is therefore provided with a depth in accordance with the thickness of the material to be thermoformed. The slot 48 functions to draw the thermoformed material to a tissue-paper thin section, which allows the corner bellows to function properly. Moreover, because the bellows has a paper-thin section, the thermoformed part may be easily removed from the forming tools. The thinning of the bellowed portions of the nest during thermoforming greatly facilitates the folding action of the bellows during the insertion of the nest into a caddy box.

The steps of making the nest can best be understood by referring to the illustration of FIG. 12 wherein a mold 50 is seen supported on a surface or table 51 over which is suitably mounted a knife assembly 52. A sheet of plastic 53 is first positioned between the mold and the knife assembly 52 as illustrated. The knife assembly includes an upper or top wall 54 and opposed side and end walls 55 and 56 terminating at their lower ends in knife edges 55a and 56a. The side and end walls are vertically extending downwardly from the periphery of the upper wall 54. The corners of the knife assembly include jogs in order to conform to the angular cut of the mold illustrated specifically in FIGS. 8 to 11. The knife assembly 52 is lowered to engage the plastic sheet 53 and moved on downwardly until it forces the plastic down over the sides of the mold and thereby seals with the plastic so that it can be thermoformed either by a pressure or vacuum forming operation.

Following the forming operation where the sheet has been conformed to the shape of the mold, further advancing of the knife assembly effects trimming of the plastic at the lower ends of the side walls of the nest. Because of the draft of the mold in the form of a steep angle, the knife assembly will not scarf the material side wall when forming and cutting and will trim with virtually no nib in the cutoff area. Accordingly, a one-shot forming and trimming operation is provided which greatly reduces the expense of making the nest.

It should be appreciated that the nest as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7 is only illustrative for the purposes of showing the corner bellows as the upper panel 21 would normally have a formation for matingly receiving an article. A more complete example of a form of nest that would be made for packaging an article is shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 wherein the nest is generally designated by the numeral 60 and includes an upper panel 61 having cavity formations 62 and 63 for receiving the product, opposed end walls 64, and opposed side walls 65 extending downwardly from the periphery of the article panel 61. Comer bellows 66 are provided at the intersection of all of the side and end walls. It can be appreciated that this nest is only illustrative of a type that can be utilized as the nest may have any sort of cavity formations in the article panel in order to accommodate a particular type of product or article.

From the foregoing it can be determined that the present invention involves a nest that can be inexpensively made and which will better conform to a caddy box and provide a more pleasing appearance for the packaging of products where nests are used.

it will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention, but it is understood that this application is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In a package for an article including a caddy box and a nest assembly, said caddy box including a rectangular bottom wall and side walls vertically extending upwardly from the periphery of the bottom wall, the improvement being in said nest which is thermoformed of plastic and which telescopically fits within said caddy box, said nest including a rectangular article receiving panel having cavity means formed to matingly receive an article, side walls extending downwardly and slightly outwardly from the periphery of said panel, and inwardly-collapsible bellows means interconnecting between the ends of adjacent side walls of said nest assembly, each of said bellows means comprising a pair of triangular-shaped panels joined directly to each other by a common fold line and to respective ones of said adjacent side walls along fold lines extending from a respective comer of said article receiving panel for urging said side walls outwardly when forced to a vertical position in the caddy box thereby providing an intimate and frictional engagement with the caddy side walls.

2. A package as defined in claim 1 wherein the thickness of said bellows panels is less than said nest side walls. 

1. In a package for an article including a caddy box and a nest assembly, said caddy box including a rectangular bottom wall and side walls vertically extending upwardly from the periphery of the bottom wall, the improvement being in said nest which is thermoformed of plastic and which telescopically fits within said caddy box, said nest including a rectangular article receiving panel having cavity means formed to matingly receive an article, side walls extending downwardly and slightly outwardly from the periphery of said panel, and inwardly-collapsible bellows means interconnecting between the ends of adjacent side walls of said nest assembly, each of said bellows means comprising a pair of triangular-shaped panels joined directly to each other by a common fold line and to respective ones of said adjacent side walls along fold lines extending from a respective corner of said article receiving panel for urging said side walls outwardly when forced to a vertical position in the caddy box thereby providing an intimate and frictional engagement with the caddy side walls.
 2. A package as defined in claim 1 wherein the thickness of said bellows panels is less than said nest side walls. 